Meet the architecture whiz helping produce killer events for Google, Nike, and New York Fashion Week

Theory puts on a show at
Skylight Moynihan Station.Courtesy of
Skylight

The west side of Manhattan is filled with massive warehouses,
vacant remnants of New York's more industrial past.

But with the help of Skylight Group and its founder, Jennifer
Blumin, those warehouses and otherwise disused historic buildings
are now serving an altogether more luxe purpose: as the backdrop
for runway shows.

At Moynihan Station — the front of which is the James A. Farley
Post Office Building, which dates back to 1912 — a bare,
cavernous space that was once used as a mail-sorting room has
been transformed into a high-fashion runway. It's just one of
several Skylight properties that was used (and will be used)
during New York Fashion Week.

"I've always loved the idea of taking something that was a post
office and turning it into the hottest runway in the world. We're
bringing global exposure to historic buildings, " Blumin said to
Business Insider. "We don't have to overly fetishize the past,
but it doesn't mean we should forget it either."

Skylight itself doesn't own the buildings it develops. The
company takes control over historic but undeveloped spaces,
renovates them to perfection, and then rents them out to
companies planning events. In addition to Fashion Week, some of
Skylight's recent clients have included Google, Microsoft, Nike,
and Ralph Lauren.

Nike, for example, tweaked the quote found on the facade of the
post office ("Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of
night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their
appointed rounds") to be part of a global media campaign
appealing to athletes.

"We're selling them a story more than we're selling them
space," Blumin said. "People listen when there's something much
more profound to be said."

Skylight Moynihan Station
from the outside.Courtesy of
Skylight

Moynihan Station is a building in transition. It will eventually
become an extension of Penn Station, where Amtrak trains will
come and go. By bringing high-profile clients and exclusive
events like Fashion Week into the space, Skylight is playing
a significant role in the development of the
neighborhood.

"Part of what we were brought in to do was get the Moynihan
Station name on the tongues of every New Yorker before the
station is even functional," Blumin said. "Fashion Week alone
brings about $180 million to the neighborhood each year."

Skylight Moynihan Station
from the inside.Courtesy of
Skylight

Part of a Skylight building's
appeal is that it can be a blank canvas for clients to design
around.

"Our current model is to give the
designers the time and space to do what they do best, which is to
build out an entire environment that's reflective of their
vision," Blumin said. "We discover and provide the beautiful
bones. They add the layers."

For one event at Skylight Modern,
a sparse, box-like space in Chelsea, Google essentially plopped
half of an airplane in the middle of the room.

But for a 2013 Kenneth Cole show,
the space had an entirely different look — bare, concrete
columns, and models walking down runways illuminated by white
light.

A Kenneth Cole show at
Skylight Modern in 2013.Courtesy of
Skylight

New York Fashion Week taking
place at Skylight's venues — Skylight at Moynihan Station and
Skylight Clarkson Square, plus MADE Milk Studios — is a somewhat
refreshing change after years of shows held in clusters of tents
at Lincoln Center. Some designers are still bucking the trend and
holding their shows in one-off locations, like on piers on the
Hudson River.

Blumin said she has heard some
show-goers complain about the week's traffic and how spread-out
the venues are now. She personally gets around by
Citibike.

"It's not just about what happens
inside the venues — it's also about what happens on the streets.
Why can’t a sidewalk be a runway?" she said. "The people
who show up to these shows are usually just as interesting as
what happens on the runway. It's a form of expression, and that's
what New York is all about."

Blumin at Skylight Clarkson Square.Emily Andrews

Right before Fashion Week kicks
off, Skylight's work kicks into gear.

"My team works really long
hours, and they live off M&M's and Red Bull, basically. It's
a hectic time for everybody," Blumin said. "Our job is basically
done once the shows start rolling, though. If I go to a show,
it's for pleasure."